Monday, February 22, 2016

Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra Harvey

**Note, all reviews written for the next two weeks have been worked up from notes I took while I was crazy sick. I apologize for any coherency issues!**The Basics:Love Me, Love Me Not by Alyxandra HarveyEntangled: CraveParanormal YAPublished February 22, 2016Source: Received Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.AmazonKoboGoodreads

Why I picked up this book:Shapeshifting, friends-to-more...what's not to love?Blurb:

Dating isn’t easy when you’re in the middle of a blood feud.

Anastasia Vila’s family can turn into swans, but just once she’d like them to turn into responsible adults.

After hundreds of years, they still cling to the blood feud with the Renard family. No one remembers how it started in the first place—but foxes and swans just don’t get along.

Vilas can only transform into their swan shape after they have fallen in love for the first time, but between balancing schoolwork, family obligations, and the escalating blood feud, Ana’s got no time for love. The only thing keeping her sane is her best friend, Pierce Kent.

But when Pierce kisses Ana, everything changes.

Is what Pierce feels for her real, or a byproduct of her magic? Can she risk everything for her best friend? And when the family feud spirals out of control, Ana must stop the fight before it takes away everything she loves.

Including, maybe...Pierce. My Thoughts:

Love Me, Love Me Not has a gorgeous cover. I'd love to have this one on my shelf. So pretty!Beyond that, this is a pretty solid YA read. I love the worldbuilding around the swan and fox shifters. There's a satisfying sense of history between these two feuding groups, with layers of tradition built into both the feud and the daily lives of the shifters. While there was a lot that wasn't explained or entirely spelled out, I did have the sense that there were reasons behind the different elements of the world, and that was enough for me in this short book.I thought that the romance was really sweet, and I was cheering for it to work out. I especially loved having Pierce's perspective in this book. The pining really got to me. What a lovely guy! I loved the friendship between Pierce and Ana, and his fascination with her family. We all need people who are so supportive in our lives.I also thought that Ana's desire to find love was pretty easy to relate with, even though her need is specifically tied to being a shifter.The only problem I really had with the book was the balance in this world. There's this deadly hostility between swans and foxes (and we see several examples of it), but somehow all these kids are still attending school together? And how the heck do any of the teens have the time to balance school and their obligations as shifters? Ana mentions that many of her cousins were homeschooled, which I guess would help get around this issue, but it's clear she's not the only swan-shifter at school, and certainly there are plenty of fox-shifters. And how has the very active feud not revealed to the other locals that they all exist? It seems like a really hard secret to keep in the modern age, and there wasn't much explanation provided beyond, 'magic.' Still, because the story was so much fun, I was willing to suspend my disbelief and go along for the ride. Bottom line:

I was entertained by Love Me, Love Me Not, even when I had issues with the timing of everything. I'd absolutely recommend this one to fans of YA paranormal, particularly if you're looking for a quick read!4 starsFor fans of YA, swans, foxesDon't just take my word for it though! I've gathered up a couple of other blog reviews, so check them out for some other opinions!Angel Reads